State of the Industry not good, but pinball machines increase!
Todd Tuckey
amusements industry. The annual State of the Industry survey was quite
interesting...The change from 2006 was this...in 2007, the arcades were 38%
fewer, Street locations 12% fewer, Family Entertainment Centers 60% fewer
(!)...total locations down to 225,000 (down overall 12%)...however, it also
said equipment on location is up 15% to 1.5 billion machines! BILLION! The
industry gross was 5.8 billion for 2007. Average weekly gross for a pinball
is $47--down from $48 a week from last year, from $54 a week in 2005, but in
2004 and 2003 it was $48 a week. But total games on location is at 33,000
pinballs--up from 26,000 in 2006! They took in 81 MILLION..In 2004, there
were 45,000 pins in location---.total brand new machines purchased in 2006
was 2500 (I doubt this reflects games sold directly to the home.) Of
course, this does not account for the accounts that do NOT participate in
this annual survey too...so the number on location is much more. Anyway,
does that make anyone feel any better?? Todd from TNT Amusements
Mighty Chris
$48/week though. Ouch.
Chris
greatw...@hotmail.com
What would make feel better is for the lazy operators to service &
clean their pinball games. This seems to be the downfall of pinball in
my area since the early 80's, 1982 on when that recession hit. These
guys have been coasting on people feeding in money into very poorly
maintained pins. Guess what, people get extremely pissed off & choose
other forms of entertainment. Pinballs are a unique form of
entertainment if maintained in good working order!
Rick Swanson
> (!)...total locations down to 225,000 (down overall 12%)...however, it also
> said equipment on location is up 15% to 1.5 billion machines!
My math skills are poor, but doesn't that mean the average location
has 6,666.67 machines in it? That sounds a tad high.
Rick Swanson
Charle...@gmail.com
Actually, yes. Thanks for sharing that information - it shows that
there may be the beginnings of a trend here. It will take a few more
years of upward-trending numbers to say that Stern's efforts at
keeping pinball alive are actually growing the industry, but it's a
good start.
I think a germane question is whether operators who subscribe to
PlayMeter will see these numbers and, as a result, decide that it's
time to increase the number of pinball machines they have out on the
street. Some of that inventory may come from their warehouse (or the
warehouse of a buddy in the industry), but _some_ of that should come
from Stern.
Seeing an uptick in Stern's sales as a result would make me feel a LOT
better.
Thanks for sharing. I continue to be impressed by the contributions
you make to the community. From time to time, the modest game room I
have sparks interest in owning a game or two in a friend of mine; I
give those people your name when they ask where they can get their own.
american...@hotmail.com
That total, if not a typo must Include each gumball machine, sticker
vending machine etc. I did receive RePlay but not Play Meter as of
today.
phishrace
> But total games on location is at 33,000 pinballs--up from 26,000
> anyone feel any better??
Feel better? I've been saying pinball is on an upswing for a while
now. A big part of it is the string of hits Stern has had. There still
is and always will be Stern haters, but a lot of former haters have
converted. The ops have to.
The morons who still preach that pinball is dying and Stern is garbage
probably haven't played on location in years. Some of them still claim
they 'support the hobby'. I actually find them amusing now. They don't
know what they're missing. Location pinball is alive and kicking
(video's ass d;^).
I'm also starting to enjoy the fact that Stern is a privately held
company. Watching some folks here regularly predict their demise can
be downright hilarious sometimes. Really, you guys kill me. Get out
and have a look around. You can't walk down the street around here
without tripping over a Spidey. Wish I could buy some Stern stock.
d:^(
-phish
phishrace
Nope. That's right. They roll over at 7K. d;^)
-phish
Rich R
these new vids are over $9000? If an op is just looking to appease a
location, he may opt for a $4k machine vs a 9K Aliens? Makes more
sense knowing his dollars are made from the redemption machines,
megatouches and other misc gambling machines..
Rich
Bethlehem
(Thanks Todd for the info)
gpc...@yahoo.com
what we have been saying ALL along
2500 new pinball machines sold in 2006
the ops are GONE ...
take away the home owner and guess what company goes bye-bye
we are carrying them ...
p-hill_rocks
I would assume that number of 2500 also does not include sales outside
the USA?
30 million (scarily said)
i did not take that survey either. who does?
30 million (scarily said)
pins out earn or are close equal to drivers, redemption, other newer
vids in some locations. you just have to keep them clean clean clean
and working 100%. jack the replay high and only allow 1 extra ball .
or........ have a wiz put in their money and monopolize the machine on
50 cents for 3 hours, thats how they lose money.
set em up right, earn correct again...
youth is used to redemption games that can be over in 1 second at 50
cents or higher per play. youth attention span is very short.
make the pin match that, earn well again:)
kendall...@gmail.com
on the Stern haters issue, I will always be a williams guy, but if
someone is making machines I will support their efforts. So since
they are the only ones making machines, I love Stern.
David Gray
wrote:
Let's see. . . . the industry gross is $5.8 billion. . . dividing that by 1.5
billion machines amounts to an annual gross of $3.87 per machine. If we get
generous and round that up to $4 and then subtract operating costs, what is the
net profit? Doesn't sound like a very good ROI to me:o(
JKirby
they're out on the street working hard to make money, and there is
money there for those who wanna earn it.
Joe
greatw...@hotmail.com
Look at ROI for pinball machines over the last number of years that
Stern has been the only player. Route a pin for a year or more, then
sell it for top dollar. Seems like a great idea to me, empty the cash
box, dump the pin on the home market, & get another one. Start the
process over, almost maintenance free, & cash in on the home market
after operating it for a period.
pinman
> Todd Tuckey wrote:
> > Got myPlaymetermagazine a couple days ago...which is for the whole
> > amusementsindustry. The annualStateof theIndustrysurvey was quite
> > interesting...The change from 2006 was this...in 2007, the arcades were 38%
> > fewer, Street locations 12% fewer, Family Entertainment Centers 60% fewer
> > (!)...total locations down to 225,000 (down overall 12%)...however, it also
> > said equipment on location is up 15% to 1.5 billion machines! BILLION! The
> > is $47--down from $48 a week from last year, from $54 a week in 2005, but in
> > 2004 and 2003 it was $48 a week. But total games on location is at 33,000
> > pinballs--up from 26,000 in 2006! They took in 81 MILLION..In 2004, there
> > were 45,000 pins in location---.total brand new machines purchased in 2006
> > was 2500 (I doubt this reflects games sold directly to the home.) Of
> > course, this does not account for the accounts that do NOT participate in
> > this annual survey too...so the number on location is much more. Anyway,
> > does that make anyone feel any better?? Todd from TNT Amusements
>
> Actually, yes. Thanks for sharing that information - it shows that
> there may be the beginnings of a trend here. It will take a few more
> years of upward-trending numbers to say that Stern's efforts at
> good start.
>
> I think a germane question is whether operators who subscribe toPlayMeterwill see these numbers and, as a result, decide that it's
> time to increase the number of pinball machines they have out on the
> street. Some of that inventory may come from their warehouse (or the
> from Stern.
>
> Seeing an uptick in Stern's sales as a result would make me feel a LOT
> better.
>
> Thanks for sharing. I continue to be impressed by the contributions
> you make to the community. From time to time, the modest game room I
> have sparks interest in owning a game or two in a friend of mine; I
>
> - Show quoted text -
This is true pinball is my strongest earner along my route, probably
due to the fact that many operators in my area either no longer
operate them or they are not maintained properly. I operate used
equipment and every account I have is setup with a pinball, and
locations like them because they have the most consistent earnings,
Williams/Bally games are my favorite but I do like some of the games
that stern has recently produced, like Lord Of the Rings, The
Simpsons, Family Guy, then there are some stern machines that i would
never consider placing on route, because they are just plain boring,
(but that's just my opinion) My Best game on route has been Whirlwind
earns great even in the worst locations.
David Marston
>Average weekly gross for a pinball
>is $47--down from $48 a week from last year, from $54 a week in 2005, but in
>2004 and 2003 it was $48 a week. But total games on location is at 33,000
>were 45,000 pins in location...
Yeah, I saw all that and my reaction was that the real fluctuation was in
the subset of operators who chose to answer the survey this year. This is
the response from a self-selecting group of people, selected out of the
"universe" of Play Meter subscribers. Actually, there are probably some
Play Meter subscribers who ignore the survey questionnaire because they
barely read the mag at all. As I've said when commenting about this
survey in past years, I think that it tends to draw out the ops who want
to cry poverty, or maybe they worry that the IRS is reading the survey.
It's not just pinball; some of the other machine types also have these
odd fluctuations.
--
................David Marston at MV